Soul Calibur: No Future
by Rekoz-The-Nightmare
Summary: This is a tale of four warriors, an evil sword and romance, all unfolding as their fates intertwine in an epic battle of good and evil
1. Prologue

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

A/N: This story is mainly about Nightmare, Kilik, Cassandra, and Xianghua. Also, in some parts of this frantic, there are scenes containing violence, suggestive themes and coarse language. This frantic is PG-13,

Another A/N: This was based off of an RP I set up on Gaia Online. Special thanks to Gains Diamond Knight and Kati Hylia for the inspiration for this story.

**Prologue**

In a far away country, a single soul stands a top a great cathedral, holding a great sword with a demonic arm. His blond hair, flowed in the wind, as the gentle but cold breeze blew as it did in the mountains. Then from the howling of wind, a scream of a raven shook the silence, and it flew down over a black sky, covered with grey clouds and thunder rumbling in the distance. It then perched on the man's demonized arm, and dropped a small red shard from its beak, into the hand. He clenched the shard with it, and then he laughed.

"Good work, my pet," said the voice of Siegfried, but better known as Nightmare, "Another shard for Soul Edge," he said, stroking the bird under its neck, "You see Soul Edge? See how many shards and souls I've given you? But you're still hungry? Well then, as soon as we claim more souls, we shall be unstoppable!" He then laughed maniacally.

Standing up, his leg armor rattled, and again the wind blew across his body. Nightmare spotted a small village, "Perfect for more souls. They'll become part of you, and then you'll become stronger." He headed down for the village.

As he reached the gate, an elderly man greeted him, "Oh 'ell! What can I do...," then he looked at his grim reaper, "AHH!! It's the Nightmare! 'Em's 'ere to kill us all!" At that point he stared to run.

Nightmare just shook his head and ran after the man, "Why do you run from you're fate?!?" He slashed the man's back with his demonic sword Soul Edge, and the grievous wound bled profusely. He fell and a scream of pain leapt out, but was cut short, for Nightmare decapitated him moments after he fell to the ground. A small blue aura left the man's body, and merged with the Soul Edge. The man's soul was a part of Soul Edge.

"Excellent!" Nightmare whispered to himself then continued laughing maniacally with a smirk of evil on his face. He looked around, and a glowing torch caught his eye. He grabbed it, and threw it on a straw roof. At first the blaze was small, but the little rain fall created a dry environment for and inferno. The hell continued as hundreds of people were flushed out from their houses and Nightmare picked them off one by one. Soon, a blue hue covered the whole town, as people's souls were taken from their lifeless corpses, and placed in the Hell-Blade Soul Edge and in the distant village in Athens, people could hear his hideous laughter, and the screams of tormented souls.

In Athens, A young woman with blonde hair, and crystal blue eyes shunned and quivered at the sound of the laugher and screams from the distant village. She sipped her tea with a quivering hand, and occasionally spilling some on the table. She got out of her chair to get a cloth, and then rested her hands on the counter and lent over.

"Sophitia, are the gods watching you? Why have you not returned? It's been one and a half weeks now and your children are worried about you," said Cassandra to herself. The only thing keeping her going was Sophitia's two children.

Days passed, days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months. Cassandra, almost always was staring outside from a window, or looking at old pictures of her sister. One day, while sitting at the window, one of her nieces tugged on her skirt.

"Auntie Cassy!" she started, "Where is mommy? We waited a long, long time for her! Where is he Auntie!?"

Cassandra shed a tear and picked up her niece, "I don't know honey. She's out there though."

"Why are you crying?"

"Because, I'm scared."

"But you can't get scared! You are the bravest Auntie I know!" said the little girl with a smile.

"I am scared, that, oh, you wouldn't understand."

Several days later, a letter from a minister arrived saying that Sophitia has been killed in battle. Cassandra knew she was killed by the demon known as Nightmare. As soon as she was finished, as part way done the letter, she started to cry terribly. All the children came in, and after Cassandra explained everything, her nieces and nephews cried as well.

_Look what you've done Sophitia!_ Cassandra thought. _You've let your children become orphans! But I must avenge you! Where can I put all your children? I know! I'll put them in our weapons school! They can learn to defend themselves! Sophitia, I'll make you proud. I promise._

And with those last thoughts, she sent her niece and nephew to a warrior's school, and she grabbed her Omega sword and Namean shield, took a deep breath, and took her first steps out of the house and into her destiny.

Close, but far away, two warriors, both enrolled for the army for the Emperor, were sparring. Rod and sword, flashes of blue and red, twirling around and around, in a conflict similar to the battlefield. The warrior with the rod was Kilik trained in the sacred and lost art of the rod. The woman was Xainghua, a Chinese sword specialist, and no other warrior could stand up to her with a sword. After destroying the one called Nightmare (or so they thought) they had naught else to do but hone their skills. Kilik had already become under the influence of Soul Edge once, but this was a long time ago. He had claimed many innocent lives, but did return to normal eventually.

In the beginning, he was banished from the Empire, but with Xainghua's help and the defeating of Nightmare, he was aloud back. Soul Edge now almost completely gone, the two friends are finishing up their sparring session.

"Here I come!" yelled the spunky woman. She did a double aerial kick and final upward slash.

"Not quite!" Kilik answered. He parried and made Xainghua lose her balance. He the used his rod to push himself into the air, and vaulted off the rod so he could smack Xainghua with his rod. She fell and rolled to the side, and as Kilk's rod missed, she stepped on it. Kilik pulling away at the rod and trying not to be hit by Xainghua's attacks, Kilik eventually tripped Xainghua. As she fell, she did a hand-spring back flip. She thrust for Kilik's neck, and so did Kilik. It was a draw.

Not much talking happened after that. Kilik ate and went to bed. In his sleep, he could see a figure, a red orb. Then it came closer, and closer. The closer it got, the hotter Kilik got. Kilik was thrashing in his sleep, as the Eye of Soul Edge came upon him.

"No...Noooo...NO!!!" Kilik awoke with a fright and a cold sweat. Xainghua rushed in wearing a night-gown.

"What's wrong!?! Is he back!!!???"

"Yes Xainghua, he is. I fear that he's coming for us. I saw the Eye again. But this time it burned me. My skin feels warm still. He's back, Nightmare has returned."

"Oh god, this cannot be!" Xainghua spoke. She paced across the room of the dark room, only lit by the moon and stars, "Nightmare... I felt it too, but I always shook it off. We must leave!"

"Yes Xainghua, let's go!"

The warriors packed their bags, and carried their weapons with them. In the pale, cold moonlight, Kilik and Cassandra walk down the great stairs and gate. They reached the gate, and Xainghua looked back then turned away.

These four warriors, drawn together by their own desires and fates, will soon create a conflict that will shake the cosmos. Soon, the evil and the good will return. A tale of Swords and Souls, retold forever.

And so...it begins.

A/N: Sigh. I had to change the name to Siegfried! Why must I be so kind?


	2. Chapter 1

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 1**

Some time after he decimated the village (but before Cassandra got her letter), Nightmare was walking down a road toward Kilik and Xainghua. He felt no remorse for his actions. In fact, he felt somewhat pleased. All he ever wanted was power, and slowly, but surely, he is gaining it. Every soul he takes, every shard collected brings him closer to power. The Eye of Soul Edge looked around and then being satisfied, closed until it wanted more death.

The mountain was perilous. The freezing winds creating a bone-chilling knife on his skin every time it blew, but it did not seem to affect him. As he paced down it, the sky grew more cheerful and bright, the exact opposite of Nightmare. He slung his sword upon his shoulder and continued the march to the bottom. As he reached the very bottom, trees were visible, and the sight reminded him of home.

His mother was exceptionally beautiful, and always let him go with her everywhere he was allowed to go with her. She was a good mother and Nightmare was a happy child, but probably his most memorable idol was his father, the one who trained him. He was a master swordsman, how ironic for the student to slay the master.

A forest was brought upon him, and the darkness suited him. He was as dark as a shadow on the inside. Then suddenly, in the brush, he saw another being, humanoid in figure, and appeared to be armed. The Eye opened up wide and looked into the direction of the figure. Its gaze passed through shadow and it was able to see a woman, blond and slender. In her hand she held a short sword (or gladius) and a small shield.

_Quite attractive, too bad she's armed with a sword and shield. She'll have to become part of a greater being._

She stopped to rest on a rock, wiping the sweat that had formed on her head from the intense humidity in the dense forest. Nightmare appeared in front of her, but still concealed in the shadows.

"Who are you?!? Show your self!" demanded the woman. She raised he arms into her fighting stance, and prepared for an ambush. She looked around everywhere, but to no avail.

Nightmare responded to her demand in a sinister voice, "It is not you who needs to now me, for you know me already. No, it is I who should know the next of his victims."

"Nightmare...so, you've appeared to me at last! How dare you threaten me and my children! You've already come too close to Athens! I'm here to slay you to protect the world, an especially my children," she said twirling her sword around in an attempt to frighten Nightmare, which she already knew was futile.

A round of applause came from the distance, "A touching story. I've really been brought to tears. What care I who is slain for me benefit? You shall be the next. Now I'll ask again, who are you?"

"I am Sophitia! Now step into the light so I can gaze upon death and spit on him!"

"Tisk Tisk. Now why do we have such a tongue? Well, of you want to meet death, HERE I COME!"

Nightmare dashed at Sophitia, taking her off guard. He had Soul Edge in his right hand and swung a great horizontal slash at her. He used her shield to block, and a nasty grin grew on Sophitia's face. She attempted a thrust, but Nightmare parried her and took her off balance, then kicked her to the ground. With a great roll, she broke the fall and flew at Nightmare with a high-low-kick combo, and it was a block-block-catch for Nightmare. He held her leg and Sophitia grew more enraged. She used her left leg to kick him while he held her right. It succeeded, but she fell to the ground. The other, rubbing his head, took the winded Sophitia by the hair, held her up, and punched her in the stomach, knocking her out.

_I hate fighting women, too fast for me._

Sometime later, Sophitia awoke in a dark cavern, poorly illuminated by candles Nightmare had brought. She was bound by her hands and legs, but not gagged. She grew tiresome of the despicable monster in her path. She was so close to her goal, and now she was to lose utterly with the ultimate price.

"You know, I heard rumors about you Nightmare," she said with a much sweeter voice.

Nightmare, whom was cooking, did not turn his head to create eye contact, "So really, I've heard so many from people like you I can't remember them all. Plus, I'm in the mood for a story, continue."

"Well, a long time ago, a young man found a steel shard of the powerful sword Soul Edge. Wait, no let's go back further. A long time ago, a small boy and his family were so greatly bonded the gods could not destroy their happiness. He was a fairly good warrior, but enjoyed playing this game he called life. Now one day he went into a field and found a metal shard, and slowly it consumed him. Years passed and his family did not know what was wrong. Then one night, the now young man slew his family and set fire to his own home. He thereafter called himself Nightmare, but do you know his real name?"

"No, tell me. What is it? Even thought it matters not."

"Siegfried..." And as he voice trailed off and echoed in the cavern, Nightmare slowly turned to Sophitia.

"You're lying. You must be!"

"Never, I cannot lie to anyone. You're name is Siegfried."

"Siegfried, I'm Siegfried?" he said to himself, then the great voice of Soul Edge throbbed in his head as if intense heat had overcome him.

_Fool! See what she is doing!? She is trying to gain your trust then she'll cut your throat as you lay asleep. Or even worse, run away and not become part of me! She's trying to toy with your head, and you're letting your weaker self start to take over. I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO LIVE WITHOUT ME!_

Soul Edge passed and Nightmare regained his mind once again, "What does it matter!? You're going to die!" He ran for his sword, and then he looked at Sophitia. She was crying in fear and lost all hope. He did the unthinkable. He grabbed a knife, went over to Sophitia (who waited for her impending doom) and cut her bonds.

"Listen and listen closely," he whispered to her as he crouched down, "You can live, but you must leave your weapons with me, and never return to Athens. You cannot call for help from anyone. You must keep this a secret, because otherwise I will make it my lifelong goal to slay you." With that, Sophitia nodded and ran off out of the caver and into the distance.

_WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?!_ Rang the voice of his blade. _That wasn't the Nightmare we know! That was your weaker self talking! Never mind anyway. We must kill Kilik and Xainghua. But if you pull another of those, I'll make you wish you were never born._

He understood and went back to his journey but all throughout the road he kept thinking: What did I do? Who am I?

Cassandra was on a boat headed for another town. She arrived in a few hours and whenever she went to a far off land, she went to the gods for guidance. In the vast town, she maneuvered through bazaars and people going to their jobs to a shrine. It was a big old shrine, full of great monuments of the gods she learned to worship. Her particular favourite and patron was Athena. As she knelt and prayed, she started to remember a past she held for a long time.

A child Cassandra and Sophitia stood in a field sparring with wooden equipment, and Cassandra was losing. As she fell to the ground, the young girl began to cry. Her tears rolled down her face, and then a warm hand wiped them up. It was Sophitia comforting Cassandra.

"You know Cassy, you've gotten a lot better!"

"Really sis? But you're still much better than me."

Sophitia sat beside her sister, "Well, I've had more practice, but for you're age, you're a great fighter. You remind me of Athena."

"No, that can't be!"

"Why sis?"

"That's 'cuz you remind me of Athena!" And for a long time, they argued childishly over who was more like Athena, but did not compare themselves as gods in fear of upsetting them.

Cassandra stopped praying and went to see some of the sights before moving on. She eventually came to an amateur gladiator fight, which brought her another memory as she watched the two fearless opponents fight.

A teenage Cassandra fought an older Sophitia in a competition for the warrioress of Athens, an annual contest for female fighters. Cassandra and Sophitia were fighting a mirror; match for match, blow for blow, and beauty for beauty. The cheers and whistles filled the stands, and then Cassandra fell to the ground. The crowed chanted for blood, and Sophitia looked at her next soon-to-be slain opponent, her own sister. Cassandra just nodded and raised a finger, the sign of surrender.

The judge looked and listened to the crowd for a decision, and it was death. His finger was raised to his throat for a signal for "Kill her". Sophitia looked again at her opponent and then she did something very displeasing to the crowd, she threw her sword down and brought up her sister off her back. The crowd booed at the sight, but then the Emperor silenced the crowd.

"This is a sight to behold: Two warriors that will not let either die, for if they do they cannot astound us with their feats of weaponry. I decree that Sophitia wins the match, but if Cassandra and Sophita fight again in public for entertainment, they shall not slay each other. Sophitia has demonstrated a mercy only gods may grant." The cheers continued.

Cassandra finished watching her share of the fight and continued on. She then found an article of clothing identical to her sisters in a bazaar. When she asked how he found it, the merchant said it just came in the tide. It was Sophitia's vest undoubtedly. She felt even worse. Too bad for her, this was where her father and Sophitia bought her clothing. That wasn't her vest.

On the outskirts of town, a red gleaming shard caught her eye. It was in the grass, lying there as if waiting for a warrior to pick it up. Cassandra did not know what it was, but she put it into her pocket. Then a flash of The Eye was in her head, and then vanished as quickly as it had come. The red shard pulsed in her pouch, but Cassandra felt nothing.

But unknown to her knowledge, her foe Nightmare was elsewhere and unknown to her. She was traveling in the wrong direction. And Nightmare was trailing right behind her.

Kilik and Xainghua, exhausted from the journey, decided to rest at the next town. The two had been silence for most of the trip. Unfortunately for them, the next town they ran into was a dump. It was obviously burnt down many years ago. Nightmare was already here, but nowhere to be found. They entered the ruins of a town and entered with extreme caution.

"Xainghua, go to the right, I'll cover the left." Xainghua nodded at Kilik's order. He wasn't quite himself lately. It was a little harsher than as of late, but nothing too serious. She thought he was just overreacting.

Kilik, covering the left flank, approached a small cart with a cover on it, rod out ready for combat. His steps sank into the mud that was left from a previous and recent rain storm. He used his rod to lift up the cloth cover to reveal several children. When they saw Kilik, they screamed thinking Nightmare had returned. When they did this, they had something to really scream about. The vibrations of several children screaming shook the rook and pieces of the roof the cart was under became dislodged. The wood fell at a high rate, and would surely crush the children under it. Kilik thinking quick, used his rod to shatter two smaller pieces, and then threw the larger piece far away to shatter safely. The children came out of the cart and hugged Kilik.

"Where's your parents?" inquired Kilik.

"They're dead!" said a small child and began to cry. Kilik gently directed them to safe to the sturdiest structure in the town.

Xainghua, taking her right flank heard screams a few minutes after going in her direction. They were adult voices, a male and a female. She ran calling out to them. She followed the voices to a caved in building. It must have recently caved in because the dust was still in the air.

"One sec! I'll get you out soon!" She tried to move large pieces of debris, but she wasn't strong enough, "Ok No Name, do something good and you might give yourself a name!" She slashed at the fallen planks, which were so rotted that No Name didn't have to work too hard. She slashed through planks, windows and other parts of the house to find the two injured adults huddling. They were gaunt in the face and tired. She helped them out and she heard Kilik call her.

Kilik and Xainghua met and the children held on to their parents. They knew this would scare them, but they knew they had to ask.

"Where is Nightmare?" asked Kilik bluntly.

"What he means is we are trying to make sure Nightmare comes after us, so we're traveling to find a safe spot for us to finish this battle off," added Xainghua.

"H-h-he's gone t-t-to the p-p-place called Athens... We don't know why, but he's not too near it though. He'll have to port to the town and the port town is forty miles from here."

They both thanked the adults for the information and agreed to stay the night. Xainghua awoke in the middle of the night. In a tall building, she went to the balcony and looked at the destruction Nightmare had caused.

"This is his work for sure. I don't know if we can do it this time. I'm so scared!"

Kilik in his room was acting quite odd. He was talking to himself, sitting in his bed.

"Xainghua is slowing me down. Wait, she helped me a lot today. No, she's going to take all the glory..." He trailed off while he kept talking to himself and eventually fell asleep.

A/N: I'm not good with these city names. Bear with me until I can research them.


	3. Chapter 2

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 2**

"The moon is not out tonight. I guess that's because this is the night I slaughtered my family," said Nightmare to himself. He stared at the starry but moonless night sky. It was totally clear, and the ebony darkness allowed great sight at all the constellations, "This makes no sense. I don't remember my family. Then again who should care?"

_Yes Nightmare, who needs people who are only a burden to you?_

"I don't know who I am anymore."

_You're Nightmare, the greatest fear this world has ever seen._

"Yes...." But Nightmare did not think entirely so. Subconsciously, he did feel something. Something different from what he felt a long time before.

The morning rolled around and the larks sang in the trees for the new day. Soul Edge was restless. The Eye was moving everywhere, wanting more souls, more death, and more blood. It had grown to its half way point; the Soul Edge Growth, and nothing would stop it now. It was a little harder to carry, and every time he used it the hatred grew in him.

The Evergreens stopped appearing so frequently and more rolling ills and plain fields were visible. Athens drew nearer and to another fateful soul who has yet to make her destiny. The town was so pleasing to Soul Edge that its Eye opened up wide to gaze on the next city of death.

_Go my servant! Destroy the town and make me stronger!_

"You?" said Nightmare driving Soul Edge into the ground, "I thought it was us."

_I said destroy the town and make US stronger. Are you not listening?_ Nightmare was totally oblivious to Soul Edge's true plan.

"But the town is just sitting there."

_Yes Nightmare. They're just waiting for you to make us stronger. Just thinking about it makes me hungry for more souls._

"Yes, but I think that if we continue looking for Kilik and Xainghua their powerful souls will give you such a boost, that we wouldn't need as many shards," Nightmare only said this so he could spare the town, and then he thought about all the victims and terror he could bring. Why did he propose that option?

_Hmm...good idea. We will go in disguise._ Nightmare concealed himself by a cloak and hid Soul Edge underneath it as well on his back.

He approached the town and the desire to kill rose. The people he could fight, the blood he could spill, the sight was hard to resist. He made it to a harbor.

And old seadog met him at the pier, "Aye! What ye be wantin' landlubber!?" His gruesome hook gleamed in the sun. He wore a black long coat and he stroked his white beard with his other hand.

"To the next town," said Nightmare, hiding his eyes behind his cloak hood.

"Hmph! Best be on yer watch fer that Nightmare fella. Allright, all aboard!" The boat rang its bell and he was off.

A few days later he arrived in the next town. The urge to destroy was too strong, and in an instant, he satisfied Soul Edge's thirst for death. As he approached the edge of town, Nightmare had an awful head ache. He held his head in pain.

"Damn woman! Her words are still in my head. It hurts."

_I told you, you fool! She's toying with your brain. Don't let her womanly tricks take over you for a second time!_

"Yes master!"

In the meantime, Cassandra was in a bar, having a nice glass of red wine, when three hoodlums came up and sat in front of her. She got angry and let out a sigh. One was bearded and middle-aged, one was younger than her and one was just plain ugly.

"Hey baby! Wanna go out for the night? We're a bunch of party animals!" said the young one.

"YEAH!" said the ugly one, putting his hand on the table, "We always go to this place. It's like really cool and fun."

"Now pretty lady," said the old one, "Why would you want to be here all alone?"

"EWW!" she said standing up, "You're all DEFINITELY not my type."

The ugly one went up to her and held her by the cheeks with his fingers and got in her face, "We can't have a tongue like that. Give us a kiss!" He puckered up and leaned over to Cassandra. She got so pissed off that she spat a nice big amount right in his face. Disgusted, he wiped it off.

"Let's get her boys!" yelled the old one.

He lunged at her with a right fist, at which Cassandra grabbed it, placed it behind his back and broke his arm. The blood leaked from the bone puncture.

"Bitch!" He yelled as he fell down screaming in pain.

The young one came out with kicks and punches. She blocked them all and hooked him behind the ear with her finger. He yelped in pain as he went slowly down to the ground. Once on the ground, she hit him behind the head, knocking him out.

"Wench! You're gonna die!" Said the last.

The bar was now full of screaming men and cheering women. The ugly man got a long knife out and tried to slash, thrust, whatever he could do to kill her. She put her hand behind her back and dodged them all. Getting angry, the man tried to slash out her legs. She back flip-somersaulted over the attack and kicked him in the jaw. The force turned his neck around. The sound of breaking neck bines were so loud that it sounded lick someone was stepping on glass. He fell to the floor. The bar was full of cheers, and then Cassandra got kicked out.

"Fine who needs you!" she said getting up off of the ground and wiped the dirt off of her skirt.

The night rolled around and Nightmare came to the bar just after Cassandra left. He saw the damage done to the three men he asked who had done it, and it wasn't long before he was stalking Cassandra. He found a young woman sitting near a fountain. The problem was that she looked exactly like Sophitia.

"What! She went to this town? No, this must be that warrior woman from the bar. Soul Edge, time for souls." Nightmare said to himself.

He walked up to Cassandra in disguise. She asked him, looming over her, "What do you want?"

"Your SOUL!" Nightmare yelled, taking off his cloak and removing Soul Edge from his back. Screams came out of every direction and the name Nightmare was constantly being said.

"Nightmare! You must be him," she said taking out her shield and sword preparing for battle, "You'll pay for what you did to Sophitia!" Before she could attack, she took a long look at Nightmare. He reminded her of someone she held dear, but had suppressed from memory.

She swung at Nightmare using two horizontal slashes and coming down with a flip kick. The move was vaguely similar to Sophitia's, and then those words came into his head: _It's Siegfried._ His head throbbed and the first slash was dodged and the kick landed him directly on the collar bone, but did not break it. The blood trickled from his bare chest down to his pelvis. It was a horrible wound, but he fought on. Retracting his demon arm, he grabbed Cassandra and threw her at a stone wall. The stones cracked at the force done. Cassandra was not broken, but hurt badly. She had to kneel for a moment and when she stood up, her back hurt. Her hatred grew, and the shard in her pocket pulsed. She had a new strength and her back didn't hurt as much anymore. She dashed at Nightmare and thrust at him. It struck true and the blood spilled onto the dirt road. Nightmare groaned in pain and dashed away holding his side. He glared at her before he left that said "This isn't over".

"Cheers for the person who drove Nightmare away!" cried a villager. The cheers came out but she was distracted. She took out the shard, saw it glow, and then smiled the smallest smiles ever made.

_What were you doing! You got injured!_

"I don't know. I was distracted," Nightmare argues with Soul Edge, which wasn't pleased with Nightmare.

_That's the second time that a woman has fooled you! Let your wound burn!_

Nightmare screamed in pain, and then he fell on hand and knees for breath. He knew that if this happened again that it would be much worse. He grasped Soul Edge and left for the woods to re-cooperate from the wounds done.

_Hmm...That woman was attractive. But I must be vigilant. Even with that slender body, luscious blond hair and bright eyes._

A thought came over his mind and he smiled a bit. It was a thought of Cassandra.

The road was long and harsh. Kilik was acting stranger everyday, and the road to Athens was longer. Kilik usually cringed with pain, unknown to Xainghua that that was a vision of Soul Edge afflicting Kilik over and over.

Xainghua, climbing rocks and walking in forests, was remembering the last night when they were sparring.

"Come on! Try with all your might!" said an enraged Kilik. He swung at her and she blocked, but he turned around and swept out her legs. She hit the ground with a _thud_ and she could see a rod falling into her face. She flinched and the rod stopped right before it hit her face, "You're no challenge anymore. Get better or go home." Kilik left.

Xainghua regaining her breath sat up and cried. Kilik never talked to her like that.

Xainghua looked at the Kilik present ahead of her. He was not tiring but she was. He walked right past a sign and didn't stop to read it. She however did and it read: Watch out for venomous snakes.

"Oh no! Kilik!" exclaimed and apprehensive Xainghua.

"Quite woman, I'm trying to get out of here."

"WOMAN!?! I have a name Kilik and you better start treating me right or else."

And at that moment, a black snake came out of the brush, looking at Kilik and feeling threatened. The trees made it much too dark to see and it leapt out with a poisonous bite. Kilik howled in pain and immediately collapsed. The sweat poured from his face and he had a fever. Xainghua ran over to him and started to suck out the venom that was pumped into Kilik. The snake hissed.

"You bastard! You hurt my friend!" she took out the No Name and loped off the snakes head. She then returned to sucking out the venom from the ankle.

That night, Xainghua looked at Kilik, whom was still asleep. The fire crackled and she was depressed. She left Kilik's side with a fresh cold cloth on his forehead and started to perform a sword kata. Kilik opened his eyes and gazed upon the most beautiful site ever seen for him: A woman, fighting her hardest with perfect from and technique. Her kicks, slashes thrusts, turns, movements, everything was flawless.

"Xainghua," Kilik said hoarsely, "I've never seen you fight like that."

"Well if you weren't such a jerk I wouldn't have been doing this. Now leave me alone!" She went off to the hot springs.

_What's wrong?_ Kilik thought. _She was never like this._ He went up to find Xainghua, but caught her in the hot springs. He saw nothing but she screamed and made him leave.

The next morning, Xainghua was not impressed.

"Xainghua, I..."

"Didn't mean to be a pervert and try o look at me in the hot springs?!?!?!" She looked at him with a angry face. She was so mad that steam was almost coming out of her ears.

"No, for being so mean to you. I don't know what was wrong with me."

"Really?" she looked at him, "Well I guess you're forgiven." She kissed him on the cheek and that made Kilik blush.

_Don't you see Kilik!? She's going to try to make herself look good! Don't let her little tricks fool you! _He looked at Xainghua, now ahead of him and went passed her with a clod look on his face.

_Something's wrong. I know it is._ Xainghua thought to herself then she walked on.


	4. Chapter 3

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 3**

Nightmare although badly wounded, recovered from his wounds rather quickly. He needed to intersect Kilik and Xainghua's path. He knew that after the two weeks that had past that they wouldn't be in China anymore, but they couldn't be too near either. And then there was the woman he met the other day. He looked at his stomach, and the bandage was stained with his blood. He put his hand over it and it stung, so he took it off.

_If Kilik and Xainghua are near,_ he said to himself,_ I can find a route they would be traveling. Let see. To get to Athens, they would need to come from around Russia. That's a long trip. So they would be near Greece. So If I left Greece, I could easily find them._

Cassandra sat in her room admiring her shard that she had found. She stroked it with her hand and then she cut her finger. A small droplet of bloody leaked out and fell onto the floor. It did not hurt her, but the shard glowed as the blood spilled onto it. She smiled and hid it away in her pouch.

She left in the bright Greek sun and the humidity was overbearing. She let out a sigh and wiped her forehead. She marched out of the town into the wilderness. She was trying to track Nightmare, but she had no clue on where to begin. The vision of his glare as he retreated from the fight came back.

"ARG! Who does he remind me of!" she said to herself, "Why would Nightmare be in my memories." In he deepest recesses of her mind, a young boy with blond hair looked at her, but his face was clouded in darkness. She couldn't remember.

"Humph! Well, he looked so different from here. If I went elsewhere, maybe I can stumble on some clues."

"Near Greece at last. Phew it's hot here, "Xainghua said to Kilik ahead of her, but no answer came back. He had been silent as if he was entangled in his own mind. A large rash had come on his arm, but that couldn't have been a result of the snake bite he endured. The trip from China around Russia and from Norway was very taxing on them. It would be a relief to get a little rest.

They went into a great town full of people. Athens was finally a place they had visited at long last. It was much more crowded than they had imagined. Xainghua looked at Kilik, still deep in thought and then she looked up at the mountains. The sight of them chilled her to the bone. It was on that mountain that she used Soulcalibur to prevent the destruction of the world at Nightmare's hands. The icy air was still quite vivid in her mind.

"Well, where to now? Nightmare obviously wasn't here."

"Not quite my dear Xainghua, "said an inquisitive Kilik examining the ground, "Look!" He picked up a small piece of black metal, "This must have fallen off of Nightmare's armor! He WAS here!"

Much to Xainghua's bad disposition, Kilik was right. That was a piece of his armor undoubtedly. They went to the harbor and asked the seadog some questions and found that Nightmare was a step ahead of them. They boarded the ship and urged them to get there in one day. It was actually two.

Nightmare couldn't decide what to do. Find the woman and kill her, or go for his real goal. What was that woman's name? Her memory confused him with many questions. He decided to wait for the woman to leave Greece and he would follow.

A few hours later, Cassandra did come out of the front gate holding something in her hand. She opened up her fist and to Nightmare's amazement a shard of Soul Edge was held within it. This confirmed his desires. He wanted to retrieve the shard and find out about this woman.

_Wait! She's headed for my home! She'll uncover thing even I don't know about! I must follow her._

He ran as quietly as he could, hiding behind the cover of trees when he made a sound she could hear.

"I've got a feeling like I've been followed all this way," Cassandra said to herself. Then two figures came into the distance. Nightmare approached Cassandra with extreme caution. After all, hiding wasn't one of his fortes.

Cassandra drew Omega and Namean. One she was sure was a man, but she wasn't sure of the other. As the figures drew closer, she sheathed her weapon as a man and woman came in sight. They appeared to be harmless.

It was none other than Kilik and Xainghua. They saw Cassandra and as she approached them, they got cautious.

"Oh," Cassandra said to the two, "Can you please tell me if you have seen a shady character around here?"

Xainghua lept up at the words "shady character", "Who! Are you talking about one person in particular?" Cassandra described the man and it was all know too well to all of them.

"Nightmare, it seems like we are all in the same boat," said Kilik, "You should travel with us." Cassandra agreed and the three decided to go in Cassandra's direction.

_Perfect!_ Soul Edge whispered in his ear. _We can get all three of them at once!_

Nightmare smiled at the thought of exacting his revenge and getting three souls for the price of two. The shard was another bonus. He tightened his grip on Soul Edge. He kept following them until the right moment.

It seemed like they all had a lot in common. Nightmare had all affected their lives and they all were warriors. As dusk drew near, they sat and made camp.

"This is the time to strike!" Nightmare thought to himself. Then his maniacal laughter filled the air.

Kilik, Xainghua and Cassandra all knew this laughter. They grabbed their weapons and prepared for battle. Nightmare slowly and menacingly stepped out of the trees.

"Well, well! I guess we all meet again! Sorry little lady, but I still don't know your name. Can you tell me the name of the person I shall soon kill?!" He pointed at Cassandra with his demonized arm.

"I am Cassandra, sister of Sophitia."

He laughed an evil chuckle, "You know," he lied, "I really enjoyed tormenting her. Want to know what I did?"

Xainghua and Kilik advanced infront of her but she moved them aside, "Yes, I want to know how much I need to do to exact my revenge."

"REVENGE; You know nothing of the word! Well First I tied her upside down, and then I peeled off her skin strip by strip. Ah, the screams were so cheerful to my ear!"

"You bastard! Die for Athena!"

Cassandra rushed Nightmare, but he just shook his head. He wouldn't be fooled three times. She attempted at long thrust, and with his right massive arm, he sidestepped and pulled her arm behind her back.

"Quite familiar isn't it?"

He wrenched the arm tighter behind her back, and her blood curdling scream made the birds leave the trees. Kilik grew in rage, and Xianghua already was running after Nightmare. Kilik went into a trance. His hatred flowed through his blood. Xainghua slashed at Nightmare, who blocked all of her attacks and moved Cassandra in the way of one to cut her pouch off. It flew in the air and he caught it with his right. Cassandra quickly tried to regain some feeling in her arm.

Kilik was last to rush him, but this was no form of Soul Charge he was under. This was vaguely familiar to Xainghua, but she couldn't put her finger on it. All of Kilik's strikes, they seemed to create trouble for Nightmare. Nightmare attacked with his own sword, flipping in the air forward and slashing down. Kilik parried and sent him to the ground. He got up and decided it was easier to pick them off one by one.

"So long everyone, you won this battle, but I got the spoils!" He held up Cassandra's pouch and jumped into the sky, disappearing in the bright dusk sun.

Kilik then turned to Xainghua. He smiled at her and then ran at her.

"What! I'm not your enemy! You ass!" she cried as Kilik grabbed her. He launched her high and threw her to the ground.

"Xainghua! I'm coming!" Cassandra called and as Kilik was about to kill Xainghua, Cassandra knocked him out.

Nightmare watched all of this from the safety of a tree. Night rolled on and Kilik finally regained consciousness. He shook his head and then held it. A large bump was on the back and the world spun for a moment.

"Xainghua what happened!?" Kilik asked, but Xainghua turned around and cired.

"Nice one jack ass! You should be ashamed! What were you think of when you loomed over Xainghua and tried to kill her!?" Cassandra slapped him on the cheek. Nightmare giggled quietly.

"Xainghua, something is wrong with me. I've decided to leave. I'm a menace to you and Cassandra. Cassandra! It was best that Nightmare took your shard. It would have taken over your mind eventually." Kilik gathered his things, slung his rod in between his backpack and ate his meal as he left.

"Good riddance! Jack Ass. Oh Kilik. Why?" Xainghua started to cry again not because of Kilik almost killing her, but because he left. Cassandra comforted her.

Nightmare, still in the tree hopped from one to the next to get ahead of them.

_Good! I'm more powerful now! But we still need more souls if you want to resurrect your father._

"I don't know," Nightmare said looking at Soul Edge; its eye staring back at him, "I felt kind of different this time. Not hate, but not happy either."

_Damned fool! I keep telling you, no one cares about you. So let your anger flow. It will not be too long before they all pay!_

"But they're..."

_Who care's if they uncover the truth. Follow Kilik, he intrigues me._

A/N: I thought this one was kind of bad. Oh well, you decide. R&R.


	5. Chapter 4

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 4**

Xainghua was miserable for the rest of the journey. Kilik, her best friend had to leave because of something he couldn't explain. Every time she saw a tranquil pond, Kilik's smile came into her mind, and she became more dismal. Every sunray that touched her cheek, his touch came into memory, and the more depressed she became. This was very discouraging to Cassandra, whom had thought she had already lost her sister. Nightmare enjoyed tormenting people, plain and simple.

"Xainghua you have to get over this, "Cassandra said with a concerned voice, but nothing came in return. Xainghua kept her head down, staring at the black earth. Her steps seemed heavier, "Oh come on Xainghua! He only did this to save you! He wasn't trying to kill you so get your head out of your ass and realize the truth!"

Xainghua turned around and got into Cassandra's face, "You know nothing about what we went through, you stupid bitch!"

"BITCH! Why you!" Cassandra slapped Xainghua in the face. She held her hand on her cheek and then did not cry, but only nodded. She knew she deserved that.

Days passed and nights rolled on, but they reached a small ram shackled house on the third day. It was obviously burned long ago, and no corpses remained out to decay. Someone lived here long ago.

The house was still up, but very unstable. Scorch marks were everywhere and neither knew if the ceiling would give out. Xainghua looked around examining the burns and how the fire started. Cassandra was looking through old books. It was a one story home, so there wasn't a load on the roof to cave in. Xainghua still felt angry, and then sad, and then confused. What was wrong with Kilik?

"Hey!" Cassandra said, breaking the long silence, "I found a book! It looks like an old journal." Xainghua rushed up to her and looked at it over Cassandra's shoulder, "It says:"

_June 6th 1561_

_I've met a most wonderful young woman today. She was so nice to me, unlike any of my other friends. She had real concern for me. She was a bit younger than me, but all the same, we connected instantly. We have so much in common. She is also a warrior! That makes me happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a demanding master._

"It seems like there are lots of entries. Let's keep reading, "Said Xainghua, now becoming addicted to this person's life.

_June 11th 1561_

_It's been five days since I met her. The only problem is that I can't get her out of my head. My other friends have abandoned me and she's the only one who hangs around me. I feel so alone without her. It's hard to do anything with her in my head! What's wrong with me??? I'll contemplate this at a later date._

_August 23rd 1561_

_It's my 16th birthday and I'm miserable. No one has remembered me. All though the day, not even "happy birthday!". I thought it was a surprise, but this is the end of the night and no presents or anything. I think my parents hate me. They also don't seem to like her either. Maybe that's why they forgot. Maybe it's because of HER that they hate me. But I don't care, as long as she's with me._

"It keeps referring to this one girl," concluded Xainghua.

_September 2nd 1561_

_This is something really important I need to write down. I found a really nice looking red shard in the ground. It glistens with a red glow. It is so beautiful; I must give it to her. She's the only one who listens now. Even my mentor, my father tosses me aside like a bone of chicken with no meat on it. I only hope she likes it, because she's the only one who cares._

"The next passages are too messy. Wait! This date is familiar," exclaimed Cassandra, now sitting on an old chair reading aloud to her friend.

_April 7th 1562_

_My life is over. It took me all this time to build up giving her this shard, and she left for Athens. I can't believe her! I thought we had something special! I remember still her on the boat, not even looking back at me. I'm going to miss her. I'll never forget the name Cassandra._

At that last word, Cassandra dropped the book and tried to think back, "Yes, I do remember that I did use to live here, but my parents had to leave for Athens. But who was that boy?"

"Look at the cover," proposed Xainghua. On the cover it had the name "Siegfried" the last name was blurred.

"That rings a bell now!" Cassandra said, "I'm going to keep reading."

_June 6th 1562_

_I can't take it anymore! Cassandra is gone and my parents are making me feel like shit! I don't know if I can last much longer. I've place the shard I was going to give her in my pouch and never let it leave my person. One year since I met her, and now I can barely remember her face! This is too depressing._

_July 15th 1562_

_This is my last entry. I couldn't keep my anger in. I slew my father and burned down my own home; my mother fled. They pushed me too far, but I still regret my actions. Fortunately, I've found a sword of souls that says I can resurrect my father if I collect enough souls. The shard has merged with my sword, and become something unimaginable. From this day, I will be the reaper of souls. I need a new name. I am now the black knight Nightmare._

Cassandra dropped the book and moved back in terror. She trembled underneath herself and fell to her knees, staring blankly into space. _How...how could this be!? I used to know Nightmare but no as a demon, as a friend!! This is impossible!_ She thought and went blank. Xainghua walked over to the book on the floor, read it and did the same. It fell with a bang and the old book scattered dust everywhere.

"Cassandra, you knew him?"

"Yes, I did!" Cassandra cried over knowing a person she knew slew her sister.

"It seems he really liked you, maybe even loved you."

"NO! That's impossible! Stop talking STOP!!!!" Cassandra covered her ears and stared to cry even more. Xainghua slapped her on the face.

"Face it, it already happened. So, what do we do now? He probably doesn't remember you and we have some clues. What is out next step?"

"We need to find Kilik. He's vital to our team. After that, we can go on from there."

Kilik walked through the forest, Nightmare following him through the trees. Kilik often rubbed his arm, which the rash had grown in a few days to exponential size. It burned, and every time he touched it. A hateful memory came into his otherwise calm head.

He found a lake and soaked his arm in it, but that did no good. He found medicinal herbs and those did nothing either. Kilik started to stagger a bit with his paces, and his suffering made Nightmare chuckle.

The world was spinning, he felt hot. Kilik didn't know if he would survive. He hit the ground and the world stopped spinning.

"Is he dead?" Nightmare said to Soul Edge.

_No, but something marvelous is about to happen. Watch._

Kilik's mind was blank, and then he saw red. Heat came next and then smoke was conjured. He could now see an old memory he had suppressed for so many years. He saw himself killing innocent monks, stetting fire to his own home the Sheng Lu Temple. The blood from the monks stained their white clothing. It was on the walls and the floor, and he could smell it. He ran up to himself and shouted something, but nothing came out; just a hollow silence. Screams filled the air and he could hear himself laughing.

"NO! I didn't do this! No way!" Kilik screamed out. He tried to hold himself back, but as he went to grab the evil Kilik's arm, his own went through it. He was almost a ghost, watching an evil projection of a memory. It was so lifelike. He couldn't ever remember a memory being this vivid.

This was the memory of him destroying his temple (which was now rebuilt) and killing his master. This was when Soul Edge had complete control over him.

The Demon Kilik turned around and looked at Kilik. He advanced towards him, and he stumbled. He crawled back into a corner, and the Demon Kilik was on fire. He started to change shape, into The Eye of Soul Edge. It was right in front of his face, laughing sadistically. He screamed and woke up.

He was in a cold sweat and his stomach churned inside of him. He crawled over to his backpack lying a few feet away. The water skin in there would be very good for the nausea and heat flashes he was having. As soon as he drank some, he vomited. It was night and he was scared.

_You see! I appeared to him a few weeks ago, and now I'm slowly destroying his mind. Then you will have a new brother; A brother that will understand you!_

"Yes! My whole life and no one has understood me! How much longer do we wait until he converts?" Nightmare said to Soul Edge, leaping down to leave. He had seen all he wanted to see.

_He is quite strong. It will take a while for him to convert._

Nightmare remained silent. His thought turned from having a new brother to Cassandra. He knew that she was familiar. He often wandered into his own fantasy world and Soul Edge watched disgusted, but remained quiet about it. It Nightmare did stray away back to the person he had known all those years ago, he would dispose of the vessel named Siegfried "the Nightmare".

A/N: This is my FAVOURITE chapter so far! I hope you enjoyed it too. My ideas are flowing so the plot thickens and it will thicken slowly; the best way to make a story. R&R!


	6. Chapter 5

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 5**

Cassandra read and re-read the journal she took with her, constantly trying to see if it was a misprint. Every single time though it was the same words. Xainghua still worried about Kilik, but she hadn't heard from him since he left. They marched down the small mountain they were on, tiring from the wind that froze their muscles.

They rested half way down. Xainghua got out some cried salmon and gave a piece to Cassandra. She ate it slowly, savoring every bite. She hadn't left that book alone in a day. No wonder Nightmare looked familiar; it was her old friend Zigfried. The sky was bright but overcast, and no birds sang. The smell of moist earth filled the air, and the front was going away from them.

_How could he kill Sophitia? He was my friend and he slew my sister. Then again, he wasn't Siegfried, he was Nightmare._ She thought. _Well, I need to kill him for her sake, but we need Kilik._

"Where do you think Kilik is?" Cassandra asked Xainghua. Her guess was as good as hers.

"Hmm... He headed west so somewhere near France by now. I always wanted to go there, but never had the chance."

They headed down the mountain and then something unexpected happened, the wind changed and the sky turned black. The front was closing in on them and they needed shelter. Xainghua spotted a cave and the two hid in it. As soon as they got in, the storm was well in full swing. The rain poured down and thunder rumbled in the distance. It was hard to make a fire with wet fuel, but they managed. They attempted to keep warm, and that was more difficult than making the fire with cold wind blowing in the cave. They put up a tarp they had in a backpack and that cut down some of the chill. In the distance, Cassandra could see a glint of steel. She went up to inspect it and sure enough, it was something made of steel. She brought it into the light and to her surprise that it was Sophitia's sword. This made her even more distraught.

"She really is dead. She never leaves this lying around." Spoke Cassandra, throwing it into the ground and it stuck there.

"Well if she was killed here, we could at least find a body right?" Xainghua asked. Her idea to go out and find a body was a great one, but the storm wad driving and if lightning struck a tree and hid Sophitia's body, it would be impossible to find it.

"I'm going out there to find her body."

"But you'll get lost in that storm! The rain is driving out there!"

"I don't give a damn! When I decide something I keep it that way!"

So Cassandra went into the storm accompanied with Xainghua. They looked everywhere, under brush, under rock, everywhere. The rain pounded down and the thunder was deafening. Lighting flashed every other moment. The eye of the storm was upon them. Gale winds were upon them, and walking became harder.

"Cassandra!" Xainghua yelled over the wind and thunder, "We need to get out of here! It's too strong!"

"NO! I'm not leaving until I find her body!" Cassandra replied.

"We'll both die!"

"Then so be it!"

Hours rolled on and the storm was not letting up. They couldn't see anything anymore. Their eyes were exhausted from squinting and they were catching a cold. All seemed lost, and then the storm turned into a hurricane. The westward wind blew them off of their feet and high into the air. The two screamed, but nothing was heard because of the wind spinning around and thunder roaring overhead. Then they went out cold.

Xainghua awoke in a warm room. She could hear water boiling and footsteps.

"Ah!" a woman's voice said, "It seems you are awake."

Xainghua woke completely up and gazed at a cloaked woman in red. She offered Xainghua some tea, which she drank immediately. She then remembered Cassandra.

"Do not fear about your comrade. She is sleeping as well."

There was an odd and mystic feeling about the woman. Xainghua could never get a clear look at her face and the most you could she was her lips and blond hair.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"Probably about twenty miles away from the capital of France. Why, are you looking for someone?"

"Yes! How did you know?" Xainghua explained to the woman about Kilik and why he left. The woman paced over to the corner.

"I would rather tell you both at the same time." Her voice sounded quite young.

An hour later Cassandra awoke and they both went outside to see the woman. Her shack was nothing special; mostly a lento, a rather large lento. They could feel the gentle breeze and see the rolling waves on the shoreline where they were. The woman gazed out to sea obviously not talking until they both talked to her.

"You wanted to see us?" Cassandra asked and at that moment the woman turned around. Her red robe complimented her figure. She put her hands up to her hood, and took it off, revealing her true face.

"SOPHITIA!" Cassandra cried and ran to hug her resurrected sister. Sophitia embraced her lovingly, "I thought Nightmare killed you."

"Nay sister," she spoke softly, holding her sisters head in her arms, "He spared me for some reason. I missed you so much. He let me live, but I had to go into seclusion. I couldn't talk to anyone of my previous life and I needed a new one."

"Excuse me Sophitia was it? We need to know how long we were unconscious." Xainghua asked placing her hand on her thigh, "And where's our equipment?"

"Approximately a week I'm sorry to say," Sophitia said with remorse.

"Cassandra is there anyone who knows this place well and you know the same?" Cassandra asked.

"First your weapons; I've been working on repairing your old ones." She led them back into the shack and presented newly repaired weapons, "Now as for a guild you are in luck. He's recently been exiled from Paris but is a good soul nonetheless. I will take you to him at midnight. His name is Raphael."

Nightmare abandoned following Kilik, as it was no sense to continue tracking something that Soul Edge could see at anytime, but he did decide to go to France in case his fellow comrades followed him as well.

Kilik decided that he needed medical attention. (Sorry, but if you're vomiting, I'd think so too no?) He staggered as his rod hit the ground and took another step. It was a burden to walk for him now. Mud splattered on his face from collapsing days before with nothing to wash with, it was cakes on and difficult to tolerate.

His mind wavered from the memory from hell and his present situation. The rash on his arm wasn't quite a rash now. It was turning hard, tough and it no longer burned. He did fell however less kind everyday. It seemed even his more pleasing activities to accomplish made him even more miserable. He didn't know if it was him, but he blamed it on the illness.

To his luck, Kilik came across a gargantuan town. He was so happy (well, for those days that he wasn't grumpy) that he collapsed again. A man, hooded and carrying a thin sword picked him up just as he was happening to be traveling. He looked at Kilik, sighed, shook his head and carried him into town. He was now in France.

Kilik was dragged into a doctor's office by the highwayman, "This man, to the emergency room now!" he ordered the clerk at the counter.

"Why sir, you need to sign this form if you want in," she replied. The man sighed yet again and put his hand on his sword, drew it and thrust the point of it into the form in front of him.

"Look at it and be glad it's not your face. On ward now!" said the man with a rather gallant voice, "I have other business to attend to." With that he left after giving the fee to the clerk.

"Where...where am I," Kilik asked opening his tired eyes into a brightly lit room.

"Why, you were through quite the ordeal: Head injuries, bad case of sunstroke and a very bad case of a rash. Let me just see it now and we're off!" said a voice that once Kilik regained his sight came from a Healer. As he touched Kilik's rash, his hand was scorched and burned. A loud yell came out and Kilik's already pounding head created nausea and he vomited again, "Get this freak out of here! He's good to go except for that rash!" The Healer bandaged his hand and after a few minutes Kilik left.

The city was strange to him; so many people, but not as many as there was back home. The bakery was cooking fresh bread, Kilik could smell it. He went in for a bite, but was kicked out for having foreign money. After a not so quick trip to the money changer, Kilik got his fill and was feeling much better. As soon as he was done, he asked some questions and was astounded to be in France. He remembered seeing a vague shape of a man outside the town and wanted to repay him for his kindness.

"Excuse me. Excuse me! Why will no one listen to me?" Kilik did not know that most of these people did not tolerate nor like foreigners. He kept walking and finally got some information. Apparently the man lived outside the town and occasionally came back to see a small girl; an orphan was more like it. So that's where Kilik left to.

Back in the outskirts, Kilik searched for someone, or something. He couldn't count on this man being Nightmare in disguise. But then again, Nightmare wouldn't pull something like that. It was late noon and he was in the middle of the forest. Kilik gave up then and sat on a log.

"Face it, I'll never find this person." He said to himself, looking through his legs at the grass below. This was a heavily forested place so he needed to be on guard at all times. Too bad he let it down.

"Tell me young rod wielder, do you like to dance?" came a voice from out of the distance. Kilik looked around and he saw a man, hooded and carrying a sword walk through the trees towards him. He asked again, "Well boy, do you or don't you."

"I like to make my own dace steps!" yelled Kilik as he ran with great speed with Kilia-yuga, his faithful rod at the man.

It seemed as it was about to hit him, then the man was behind him with a sword drawn to Kilik's neck. He was mesmerized at how he fought. Every time he attacked, he avoided the blow then countered. He was annoying as a fly, but as graceful as a horse. He favoured a thrusting motion rather that slashing, forcing Kilik to have to be more careful on how he blocked.

"Jolly good boy! Keep it up! My, my! My mother can fight better than you!" criticized the man.

This was enough for him; he didn't feel like fighting a jokester. He unleashed his soul into his attacks. Now that old fool as Kilik was thinking of calling him was parrying his attacks, making him lose his balance. He couldn't stand this! His right arm burned with his anger. He spun his Rod around himself and all of his hits landed.

Knowing when to retreat, the master duelist ran shouting, "I know where your friends are! Come here at midnight in three days!"

"Who are you!?" Kilik shouted as the man ran out of sight.

"Just call me Raphael."

As Raphael left, Kilik's arm burned. This was no rash on his arm; he finally understood what was going on. Every time he fought and let his anger rise, his arm became something otherworldly.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not again!"

Soul Edge cackled silently in its own domain. It had taken over Kilik. All it had to do was set the pieces, and let the game progress like chess.

_Check Mate Kilik._

A/N: I dunno about this one. Not up to my standards either. Oh well, a good story needs a chapter to lead to other events like this! R&R! Please don't flame me. Criticism is ok, but no flaming on the chapters. If I said they were bad and you agree, keep your mouth shut.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

The night was young and the stars were twinkling in the blank sky. Cassandra looked up and tried to recognize some of the constellations, but she saw few of them. France was a new place to both of them and needed a guide badly. She turned to Xainghua who was pacing back and forth on the cool beach sand. Sophitia never said anything to her, but just stood on the sea's edge, looking into the distance.

"What time is it?" she asked her comrade, following the direction that she was going in.

"I don't know," she replied, "Maybe near midnight I hope. I've been waiting far too long." She continued pacing and turned her thoughts back to Kilik.

Cassandra took out the journal and sat on a rock. She was in eye's view of Sophitia but she didn't care. She kept reading some of the other journal entries Siegfried left for her. Sophitia turned her head at Cassandra, just to check on her. Whereas she placed her eye on the book, she immediately went over to read. Cassandra already had a lantern out, flipping pages every so often.

"May I see sis?" she asked rather monotonously. She gave her the book and she read the pages that haunted Cassandra. Surprisingly she did not recoil from the horrific entry that shocked Xainghua and Cassandra.

"Sis, why didn't you tell me? Did you know?" Cassandra turned to her sister with wide eyes. Sophitia sat beside her; one leg stretched out and closed the book on her lap.

"Yes and no. I knew that Siegfried is Nightmare, and fortunately for me that's confusing him a bit. That's how I escaped. But no, I did not remember the fact that he used to live near us, or how he felt about you. It must have shocked you when you found out."

"Yeah, but now I'm a little confused myself. You see if he did indeed felt like this. Could he again? Or is the damned blade too strong for him; theoretically speaking?"

"Hmm... that's a question even the gods can't answer. Ah! It's about time." Sophitia got up and left the two for a while. Moments later she came back with a man in a hood.

"Xainghua, Cassandra, this is Raphael." Sophitia moved to the side to allow the man to be met. Xainghua and Cassandra stopped what they were doing and walked up to explain their dilemma.

He removed his hood to reveal a blond man with a goatee. At his side laid a rapier sheathed and calm. She knelt down, took Xainghua's hand and kissed it, "Charmed I'm sure." Xainghua giggled as she was flattered. He did the same for Cassandra.

"All right, I've heard your problem about your friend. I met him three days ago and he was in fair condition. The only thing I could see wrong was a massive rash on his right arm. He could really fight though. Sorry, I lost the real reason I am here. I can lead you back to him, but I need you to be on guard. Nightmare is near so I need to make sure you can defend yourselves. Flambert is only so fast you see." Raphael said, not really giving away any sort of emotion at all.

"Trust me, we can handle anything," said Xainghua with lots of spunk.

"And it is that sort of attitude that will be your downfall little girl," he retorted with a nasty tone. He turned away and motioned them to follow.

Kilik returned to the same place that he had met this man named Raphael. Could he really trust him though? He only met him once and had no clue if this was some sort of a trap, but what did he have to lose? Cassandra and Xainghua were in the same boat as he was. He waited on the stump in the centre of the darkened woods.

Hours passed and no one came. He let out a sigh of disappointment and as he got up to leave. Three figures walked in the darkness. He turned again and knew it was really nothing to fear; Nightmare never traveled in a group. Eyes drooping, Kilik looked on as it was sure enough Raphael, Cassandra and Xainghua.

Seeing Kilik, Xainghua ran up to him and gave a tight hug that made him lose his breath for a moment. She held him for a few seconds and let him go. Cassandra was walking leisurely towards them and Raphael followed lastly.

"Kilik don't you ever leave again, or else I'm gonna have to find you and then scold you. Oh you're silly Kilik!" Xainghua said looking into Kilik's eyes.

"Sorry about that. Just something is really wrong, and I know what it is. You're definitely not going to like it." Kilik lowered his head in disgrace, "Come and sit around me please."

They sat around him, Xainghua on his left and Cassandra on his right. Raphael preferred to stand but still listened attentively.

"Soul Edge is trying to take me over again," Kilik said to the crowd bluntly. Gasps came out and then fear, "Yes I know. The last time I almost destroyed the Sheng Lu Temple. This time, I don't even know when he will strike. I must have you swear with utmost loyalty that if I try to kill you again, you must kill me."

The group remained silent and then Raphael spoke up, "Poor little boy. May I ask a question? But in your country, is dying at a young age because of things out of your control honourable, or are you a plain and simple ass?"

Kilik thought about it for a moment, "Well, I never thought of it that way. I guess in a way, dying for a cause is honourable. So what you're really trying to say is that I'm being a fool and too humble?"

"Exactly my boy, you catch on quick!" Raphael said, "Up, up, up, up! It's time for me to tell you some information now. It seems that the Nightmare has returned. You see, I also had a long rivalry with him, but I only wanted Soul Edge for myself. Now if I ever got it, I know what will happen. I'm taking care of a small orphan girl and everything I do I do for her. I fight for her but I can't go off gallivanting around trying to find Soul Edge anymore. So in conclusion I'll tell you where Nightmare is. He has gone to an old abandoned den of brigands. It lies somewhere in the country between this and the next country, due North. That's all I can tell you."

"And how do you know this?" asked Cassandra.

"Trust me. I know," and with that Raphael left.

The reunited trio set off for a location unknown to any of them. Cassandra relived that Sohpitia was alive, but also depressed that her sister could not return home until Nightmare was destroyed. Xainghua was perky as ever. The only one who still kept quiet was Kilik, who was trying to go one step ahead of Soul Edge. Into the fields and closer to a rocky valley dawn rose, the three prepared to tack down Nightmare.

"We need the Soulclaibur. It's the only way," announced Xainghua

Nightmare stepped walked onto a vast rocky valley and gazed upon it. The wasteland that he had abandoned he had returned to. The sandy road was drier than ever and this was the only place in the middle of nowhere that he used to use for a den of brigands.

His mind was unsure as Cassandra came in and out of his head. Shaking his head he advanced down the hill he was on towards the old hideaway. The steps made created dust from the sand and blowing winds. Vultures circled overhead in the distance, waiting for some animal to die so they could feast. Nightmare turned his head and kept walking.

Finding the old boulder that covered the entrance, Nightmare used his body weight to lift the giant rock with ease thanks to that arm of his. The _tap, tap, tap_ of metal boots going down the stairs echoes throughout the cavern

"Why did you lead me here?"

_All in good time my boy, all in good time. Kilik is under my control. There is only one last thing to ensure our victory. Look around!_

Nightmare picked up old furniture and read old parchments that dated from when he established his band and when he ended it abruptly by slaughtering his own men. One letter in particular made him interested in finding more:

_To: Siegfried._ (The name jostled in his mind)

_We have to bring you sag news that your girlfriend, Sara, has been killed by an illness. She was in critical condition and we have done all we can to help you. She held this enclosed in her hand. Her last wish was for you to have it._

_Regrettably from:_

_1st in command Falukner _

In his mind, Nightmare remembered searching the letter for his beloved's treasure. When he found it with his hand, it gave him a tingling feeling. One of his lackeys asked him is anything was wrong. Siegfried turned around and his personal Requiem turned into the Soul Edge again. He stabbed him in the gut and the entrails spilled to the floor.

"Why did I do that? Sara? What's going on? ARG!" He fell to the floor holding his head in pain. It burned with confusion and questions he could not answer.

_Fool! Stop reading those! Look for a chest! A chest you damned bastard!_

The man was in no condition, but he searched anyway. Moldy bags and garbage food were searched and the pungent smell of rotting meat filled his nostrils. Not much could harm his iron constitution, but this was rancid enough to dent him. Sure enough though, a small iron box with a lock on it.

"Well what now? It's locked!"

_Use your arm you son of a bitch!_

"I'm no son of a bitch! My mother was the kindest woman ever! Wait, how did I remember that?" Nightmare paced the dark and damp dungeon he once called home contemplating his pondering.

_Never mind! Open it!_ Soul Edge burned within him.

Nightmare smashed the iron box with his demon-arm. Inside lied a large blue shard of metal. It was a hilt of a sword that was directly opposite to Soul Edge.

_With this hilt of Soulclaibur, they cannot stop us!_

The Nightmare left but with even more questions in his head. How could he remember all of these things he couldn't remember for years?

A/N: Again, another bad chapter. I'll have to think harder next time do the next installment will come out whenever!


	8. Chapter 7

**Soul Caliber: No Future**

Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Soul Caliber 2, its characters, or any other part that is involved with the Soul Caliber Series created by Namco.

**Chapter 7**

Kilik, Cassandra and Xainghua searched near the outermost boarders of France for Nightmare's hideaway. It seemed barren but full of greenery and life. Not really his pick of the crop when it comes to a place to live, but they searched nonetheless. On foot they marched through the meadow. It was nice to see a serene setting once in a while, it reminded them all of home.

Cassandra ran through the grass playfully and laid on the ground, staring into puff white clouds. She really didn't care what was going on at this point, just that it was a little break.

"Oh yeah I forgot to tell you Kilik, something important," said Cassandra not moving her head to make contact. She told Kilik about the journal and of course he wanted to see it for himself. As he read he became disgusted.

"Preposterous! Nightmare if he was indeed this Siegfried could not ever be like this normally either! Is this really true Cassandra? Really?" he shook the book at her as he spoke.

"All of it's true. Like it or not I use to know Siegfried, not Nightmare. They were two totally different people. I've remembered a bit more and he wasn't all bad, not really. Just an ordinary boy who wanted to be noticed."

"That's still hard to hear, and even harder from you Cassandra," spoke Xainghua. They finished searching the area and concluded that Nightmare was not there. The next place was near Germany.

Germany was really lush with plant life too. Could Raphael lead them astray? No, he seemed to gallant to do something that dirty and evil. So again, nothing was of any use there. They kept going until they came to a very barren and dry wasteland of a valley.

"Now this is more his style!" Xainghua spoke with encouragement in her voice.

"Right, but where to look? He's bound to be somewhere around here," Kilik said as he looked around, seeing nothing but hard rocks and dust everywhere. He had wrapped his arm in bandages so as not to bring too much suspicion to anyone they met. Their backpacks slung across their back, they marched around the wasteland. Everything seemed to be blended in with the hues of brown and orange that was until a large boulder stood in their way. It was at least ten feet across and it must have weighed and estimated ton or a bit less. Not even all of them together could lift it.

"It's no use. We can't lift it," Cassandra said hopelessly and sat down and rested her aching back.

"Kilik! Your rod! We can use that for leverage!" Xainghua exclaimed pointing to Kilik's rod put in horizontally in between his back and pack. He took it out and drove into the hard earth underneath the Goliath rock. The rod fit snugly in between the two and all three pushed on the rod. It worked marvelously as the boulder slowly but surely rolled out of the way revealing a staircase going down.

"Get ready, draw your weapons. He's down there, I can feel the evil here like the breath from a dog blown on your face," Kilik said, becoming the unofficial leader for now. He took the rod from the ground and did a little fancy twirl and went in.

"Right behind ya!" called Xainghua taking out No Name and gave her a psyche up by doing a little shadow fighting. She ran after Kilik.

"Wait for me! Ok Cassandra. For Sophitia! Gods help me!" Cassandra called swinging her sword in the air and ran after the, both.

They crept down the stairs and shifted through spider's webs. It grossed out the women a bit but nothing too much. It was dank and musty. The smell of dirt and filth filled the air. It was so bad that they sworn it could have woken the dead. As they got near the bottom, they very cautiously advanced as the lights became brighter.

"He's here," Xainghua stated as she saw the lights, "Ready Kilik? It's our destiny to stop this!"

"Yeah! Let's go!" Kilik agreed as they ran off.

Then it came to Cassandra. "Destiny", is there such a thing? It did seem to be true after what Kilik and Xainghua went through. But what was her destiny? Was it to remember her past? Was it to defeat an old friend turned evil? She knew not, but went on anyway.

They ran through multiple winding passages. He obviously created a labyrinth for the soul purpose of confusing his enemies. They stopped after twenty minutes and regrouped.

"This again isn't working!" Cassandra stated.

"Well stop being so negative! We need to look for big footprints. No like out own." Xainghua said. Cassandra felt ashamed for being like this. She didn't now if it was Nightmare, this place or herself that was scaring her the most. Nightmare because of all he did to her. This place set a very mysterious and frightening mystique. The last one is herself because she didn't know if she could do anything to help.

"Here! Look!" Kilik said quietly as he pointed with his rod to the ground, "It's his print and it goes in this direction. Look down the passage! There's a lot of light! He must be there!"

No doubt about it. There in the middle of a six way intersection were very large footprints in the sandy ground. It led to the south of the maze. Carefully as soon as everyone was prepared, they advanced slowly and quietly through the tunnel. It winded and twisted everywhere. As the light grew brighter, they saw skeletal remains everywhere. So that was that crunching noise when they were walking. Cassandra shuddered slightly as she walked with a _crunch, crunch, crunch. _

They looked into the room that lay ahead, stealthily to not disturb Nightmare. He sat in a chair turned around not facing the three. This was too good to be true. Nightmare: back turned, practically waiting for them to destroy him.

"Nightmare!" Cassandra said.

"You will pay for the unforgivable sins you have committed!" Xainghua said directly after Cassandra as if they were on voice.

"And your repentance will start with your blood!" Kilik said lastly, after Xainghua with force.

Nightmare did nothing for a moment. Then he turned around and clapped his hands. Soul Edge lay beside him, Eye closed and sleeping, or was it waiting? The clapping echoed in the chasm, "Bravo. I am deeply heart broken by your final words!" he said as he put a hand to his vile heart.

"Face it Nightmare, you're outnumbered!" Cassandra yelled at him, "There's no escape for you!" The three poised themselves for battle.

"Damned fools!" he said and then did his signature maniacal laughter. When finished, he picked up Soul Edge and walked forward three steps, "For it is not I who is outnumbered, it's YOU!" He pointed at the three warriors and the ground rumbled.

As the ground rumbled, the earth split. The crevices opened wide and out came the undead, brandishing axes, swords, spears, all the armaments imaginable.

"What black magic is this?!?" said Xainghua, tyring not to fall.

"Compliments of Voldo from Italy, and of course dear Soul Edge!" he did a little bow for respect at the name. Sluggishly the zombies and skeletons walked forward.

As if they were trying to mislead their movements, one ran out of the harmonious walking and made a dash for Kilik. Swinging and ax, the undead went for his head. Kilik leaned back to avoid the horizontal slash and took out the legs of the creature. As it fell to the ground, he smashed the head of it. The skeletal head shattered under Kilik's rod.

"ATTACK!" Nightmare screamed and at least one hundred armed creatures ran after the three.

Cassandra was a little revolted at first, and then angry because a hand flew off and touched her leg, "DAMN BASTARDS!" She blocked at a sword and took out the arm, turning to shatter a spear and she went to cut out a third creature's leg, returning to the first decapitating it. The one that had the death blow land became dust and blew away. The third fell to the ground and bit down hard on her ankle. The blood dripped from her foot and she flinched in pain. She used a thrust to pierce the head of it and dust again blew from it. Even as she finished those two off, twenty more were for her to play with.

"This is getting no where, GODS!" Cassandra gathered her power and focused it on her sword. She felt faster, stronger and more willing to fight to the death. Her Soul Charge complete, she easily picked them off and they fell like a brigade of foolhardy soldiers, "Soul Charge! It will make some really nice work out of them!" she called out to the others. Nightmare watched attentively.

Xainghua who was already too busy fighting tried to listen to Cassandra but only received fragments of her shouting. She blocked a mace and it made her falter as well as bringing her sword arm down a bit. Instead of fighting the opposing force, she went with it and cart wheeled out of the way as well as slashing at the pelvis at a more skeletal undead creature. She used spinning slashes to fend off the fiends and used thrusts to keep them there, but it was no use. Axes and swords slashed at her nimble body and blood covered her red clothing with her own red fluid. One landed across her cheek and one across her leg. This was going no where, and then she could hear Cassandra call again. She shouted for Soul Charge. Xainghua had an even better idea though.

She started a Soul Charge, but let herself be totally unprotected. This increased the speed of Soul Charge but gave her no defense. Several zombies jumped at her. That was their last mistake. She used her Soul Energy not in a weapon attack, but tried something very untested to explode her energy in a wave of death. It swept out in a five foot radius and took out most of her opponents. It was no problem to finish of her last ones to help Kilik. Cassandra surprised Xainghua as she used her Althenean style of fighting to destroy her adversaries with ease. Kilik was in a lot more trouble. He decided to take on Nightmare. It didn't seem like that, but Xainghua saw him advance with every destroyed body to Nightmare.

Nightmare saw Kilik coming and held up a hand to motion someone to stop. As he did, the creatures stopped fighting and turned to Cassandra and Xainghua. Then he held up on finger as if he wanted to show Kilik something. He took out of his belt, a small blue piece of metal.

"Soulcalibur can never be completed now! I have the most important piece!" he laughed and then became enraged as Kilik knocked it out of his hands. It headed towards Xainghua and she had a very weird felling as it flew towards her. She put up her hand and caught Soulcalibur's hilt. Nightmare watched in horror.

Realizing his loss, he turned towards Kilik again. He screamed and unleashed his fury. A flurry of slashes he unleashed and Kilik blocked a couple of them. One got him good across the arm and his bandages came undone. His arm was almost completely demonized now and he felt angrier than ever. He did not want to be seen this way. Kilik faked for Nightmare's feet and whacked him in the face. The wound left him bleeding across the forehead. Next he pulled back his staff and let multiple thrust to the midsection hit. Nightmare fell to the ground. Kilik was about to land the finishing blow.

As Cassandra and Xainghua finished up the zombies, they looked at Kilik. They looked in awe at Kilik almost finished destroying Nightmare. It was a miracle. Hell would have its only son come back. And their smiles turned into horror.

Nightmare hit the ground on his back. Kilik positioned his rod for Nightmare's temple, and that's when The Eye of Soul Edge opened up. It gazed into Kilik's heart and turned it into a factory of hatred. Kilik felt a pain that was so horrible that he knelt down because of it. He was gasping for breath.

_What's happening to me!?!_ Kilik thought as Soul Edge came upon him again. A fire burned within him. His eyes then turned red and Nightmare stood up.

All stopped and gazed upon the transforming Kilik. His arm bubbled and blood poured from it as a hideous spike drove through it. His right hand became larger than his left and he screamed in pain. Xainghua couldn't believe it and Cassandra was horrorstricken. Kilik stopped screaming and then stood up laughing. Cassandra ran up to him and offered help, it was a movement she was about to regret.

Kilik turned his head and smiled with evil eyes. He looked into Cassandra's eyes and then swung his rod at her arm. It landed and her arm broke at the instant it landed. The sound of her bone snapping filled the air. She screamed and fell to the ground. The impact jostled her backpack and the journal flew out of it. It landed near Nightmare who picked it up and started to read. Kilik could finish the dirty work.

"Kilik! Why the hell are you doing this shit for Nightmare!?!" She yelled as she cried in pain.

"Kilik, is no more. I am the brother of Nightmare, yet to have a name," Kilik smirked and then spit at the ground. He positioned the rod as he did for Nightmare. It looked like the end.

Xainghua was disgusted at Kilik's voice. It was evil and vile. It spewed only evil now. She flipped over to him and slashed his rod in half. He looked and then punched Xainghua in the face with his newly formed arm. He was about to kill her when Nightmare said stop.

"What do you mean stop!? We can finally kill them and have them out of our way!"

"You forget that I control you," said a devilish voice, and it came from Soul Edge. Kilik then fell to his knees and screamed in pain for a second time.

_Why did you say stop?! He's right you know!_ Soul Edge spoke within Nightmare's head. _And you made me talk out loud! That was inconceivable on your part._

"Because I feel...I feel...I..." Nightmare did not know what to feel. He read his entries and then something came over him. He began to stutter and couldn't speak. What was this affection he used to have for Cassandra? What was the hate he felt towards his father? He read the last entry and then looked in horror.

"I...killed my father," as Nightmare said this, a tear rolled down his face. Xainghua looked from the ground and his mighty sword turned into a handful of rust. Kilik's rod became the new home for Soul Edge and he felt good about it. Nightmare's arm became more human as Soul Edge took a new vessel.

"Yes Nightmare, or should I call you...Siegfried- or even better, murderer?" spoke the words of Kilik, "So you've found out for yourself? Too bad that was one mistake you could not make. It's time to destroy a defective vessel!"

"You said someone else killed my father! You used me!" Seigfried spoke. He was in rage, but a clam rage- a controlled rage.

"Oh boohoo! Cry about it. You won't in a few moments!" Kilik yet again positioned his rod, but it was now Soul Edge ho would win.

Cassandra could not stand this. Even though her shield arm was broken, she ran after Kilik with her sword and thrust him in. It went all the way through and Kilik spewed blood. He held his side and his blood poured to the floor. It burned and bubbled like acid. Nightmare looked at Cassandra's action and was astounded. How could she help him? He looked at his arm, and t was only badly scarred, but now human.

'Damn bitch!" Kilik said aloud.

_I must recover from this wound._ He thought. His hand was drenched with blood and it kept flowing.

_Survive! We must destroy those who stand in your way! Return to the Sheng Lu Temple and take your revenge!_

He looked up at Xainghua who recoiled at his repulsive sight. With is last word he spoke, "Enjoy your new friends, for your home will burn!" With that, Kilik left the dungeon like chasm without a trace.

Xainghua, Cassandra and Siegfried laid in silence and fear.

_Cassandra is badly injured. What will become of Nightmare? Will he become Siegfried again? Kilik. He's gone to destroy the Sheng Lu Temple! _Xainghua was full of questions. She looked at a valuable piece of the puzzle: Soucalibur's Hilt.

_Voldo, our newest source of information. I need binding for my arm. Wait, I saved Nightmare! Why?_ Cassandra was full of anxiety, and confusion

_I was used. I now know what real revenge will be!_ Siegfried lied silently and listened to his own thoughts for a change. It was good to be alone- alone from Soul Edge at least.

A/N: Phew! I think this chapter is my best and most action packed one yet! What will become of Nightmare? Where's Volod and what affiliations does he have with Soul Edge? What will happen to Kilik and Xainghua? Will Soulcalibur be reborn? I don't know either, but R&R!


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

All was lost. Kilik without his special cloak to keep his evil soul in check, he would go on an endless massacre of innocents. Nightmare, still sitting in the cavern looking into nothingness blankly, was the only thing that did not pose any immediate threat. He just sat there, staring at a wall, as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened to him. Cassandra calmed down slightly but occasionally vomited from the pain of a broken arm. Xainghua sat in the opposite corner of the three, looking at her old sword that shattered as it clashed with its arch rival's. The hilt was magnificently well made but only a small stubble of the blade remained. She often turned it as it glistened in the candlelight. She then turned her attention to Cassandra, in an immense amount of pain. Xainghua grabbed a cloth from her bag and wrapped it carefully around Cassandra's arm.

"We're going to Italy Cassandra. This Voldo can give us a good lead on Soul Edge's motives. Is that ok?" Xainghua asked looking at Cassandra, who nodded slightly.

Xainghua turned and looked at Siegfried. He finally got a hold of himself and looked back. She asked him, "If you want to follow, don't. We never can trust you. But if you want to help, that's different. I prefer you dead than Kilik."

Siegfried grabbed his requiem and drove it into the ground, "I am a monster, and I brought that upon myself. There is no way I can repent for what has happened. Even death would have little glory. I assume I am in your debt for not slaying me?" he chuckled slightly, "This is ironic isn't it? I, the one who was your goal to defeat and you spare me, but only to bring your friend back and destroy me once you return me. Cassandra, I'm sorry for lying to you, but that wasn't the Siegfried you remembered. I cannot be your friend and I'm sure the feeling is mutual."

Cassandra got up off the floor with a small limp when she walked over to Siegfried. She sat down and talked to him, "You'd assume that. I thought you would. I forgot all about you Siegfried and I want to remember. So if you want to, I'll be your friend again."

"Friendship is not won so easily, but I accept. We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Look here whatever you think you are," Xainghua spoke, "Do anything to Cassandra and I'll have your head! Understand you bastard!?"

"Seems fair enough to me, I don't really care. I can believe I let that thing take me while I slept," Siegfried said.

"Don't get lippy," she said in return and left Cassandra and Siegfried alone.

Cassandra felt a tad uncomfortable with her old friend. _Geese, I never though that I'd be in this spot. I hope he doesn't get to into a new friendship too fast. I can't forget about Kilik though. He won't get out of my head. His hair, his eyes, his fighting style; so perfect. Holy shit! I'm in love with Kilik!_ She sat beside the very silent Siegfried and couldn't believe herself.

He looked at the woman beside him, "Italy, the location of the Merchant of Souls: Voldo. It seems I am of some assistance, for I am very persuasive." He smiled an evil smile. Cassandra didn't like it, he wasn't helping at all. He really did forget what it was like to have friends. She put her face into her lap and waited for Xainghua, who had left, to return.

A few hours later they set off for Italy. The Schwarzwind (or Black Wind in English) was the name of the group Siegfried lead in the past four years, and that was the lair they were in. From Siegfried's torn memory came the knowledge that they are in fact in Italy, close to Rome to be exact. It was a good day through hot and humid conditions before actually reaching the city of the Roman Empire.

The new three entered the capital looking around in awe at the amount of people here to fight in tournaments and sell their wears. Siegfried was the first to speak.

"A big city. It will be hard to find Voldo here in the open. We should go to the bars, they're a good source of information," he said with no fluctuation in his tone of his voice. He stumbled a bit when Cassandra hit him on the back, "What are you doing! Are you trying to attack me!?" He asked with anger.

"Silly Siegfried! You're all work and no play, like the old days. Have some fun. You should buy some armor; your chest is wide open for another attack from me!" Cassandra said with a smile, she looked towards the bazaars, "I'm going shopping for now!" She ran off.

"Yeah y'old man. Go have some fun, you need a bit of a touch with reality. Cassandra! Wait up!" Xainghua said and ran after Cassandra waving her arm franticly.

"I am not an old man! I'm older than all of you by five years!" Siegfried yelled with a fist clenched, but at least Cassandra was right. He looked at a nasty scar on his side where Cassandra had stabbed him a month ago. He looked around for some quality armor and hand chose one that fit him well, but was light too. It was also VERY expensive, costing ten blood rubies at the market.

Cassandra and Xainghua looked around and shopped for some clothes, but found nothing they really liked. Instead they replenished their supplies of which Kilik stole half when he left. Something came back into Xainghua's mind when she saw a weapon store. They needed the Soulcalibur, but who would wield it? She had had the most experience with it, but what if it didn't work with her? Maybe it would go to Cassandra or even worse, the one man who abhorred the sword.

"Cassandra, we need Soulcalibur, maybe we can find a shard of it here," She said at long last.

"Yeah, but this also an opportunity to upgrade our current ones. Hey! Over here!" Cassandra said running over to a merchant with fine weapons. He showed them his wears and Cassandra knew she wanted a sword called the Dark Blade. She exchanged her weapon so she didn't have to pay as much.

Xainghua didn't know about trading in her No Name. It was her favourite and first sword she ever used in battle. It pulled her through more tight spots than she could remember. Then again, who said she needed to sell it? The Qi Xing Sword looked appealing, much like a large scimitar. She asked to test it out and found it a bit heavy, but it did pack a formidable force. She bought it just in case, but kept her No Name.

Siegfried met up with them two hours later looking gallant with a large black sword placed upon his back. Cassandra looked at him once and was stunned by him. He looked so different in his armor. He looked like a serious person who was ready to take on anything; very attractive for her. Her thoughts then wandered on Kilik.

"Wow! Siegfried! You're stunning!" Cassandra said touching his armor. It was durable, very durable.

He looked at her and smiled a bit, "Hand picked out by me of course. It's hard to move in bulky heavy armor so I picked a lighter one. This sword isn't helping much either." Cassandra giggled.

Eve Xainghua, whim hated Siegfried with a passion admitted that he was indeed handsome. She saw a poster on a sign that caught her eye. It read:

_Come one and come all whom have devoted our life to weaponry and skill. A tournament will be held today at four past noon. Come if you want to win a prize with a value of up to 10,000 gold. Sign up and fight for valor and glory!_

_(Sign up at own cost. Cannot guarantee your complete safety. Contestants will be volunteered and may die competing.)_

She gave it to the other two. They read it and Cassandra was thinking a bit about what she read. Siegfried was totally prepared.

"It's a good chance for me to test my skills without being insane. Then again, it's too late to sign up. It's 4:30 so it would still be good to watch anyhow." He said feeling a bit disappointed.

"Cheer up," Xainghua said, "This is the perfect opportunity to create your own style of fighting. You old moves are well known, you need a new style to make sure you don't draw attention to yourself."

Cassandra agreed also. So even though they couldn't fight, it was worth seeing who the best was. As they entered the arena by moving a big drape in front of the entrance, they saw a deranged man, fighting with the most awkward style imaginable. This person was flipping, and doing all of these mind boggling attacks that it even gave Siegfried a headache. Cassandra didn't bother to ask if he wanted that style or he'd bite her head off. The man just killed his opponent. They looked on as a forked like hand weapon pierced the warrior's throat and all the blood leaked out onto the arena. It flowed down the side and onto the sandy ground below.

"And the winner is... Voldo!" an official announced.

"That's our cue," Xainghua whispered to the others, "We now need to drive the pedestrians out. Siegfried, that's your job." He didn't move. It was typical of Xainghua to give him that sort of job, "Cassandra, you come with me to head him off."

"Got it," Cassandra confirmed. She looked to Siegfried who just stood and nodded.

Siegfried drove his Requiem into the ground and flipped over the crowd, did a moonsault and faced the audience with a vicious look. They all screamed and the word "Nightmare" arose as it did in many of the towns he went to. He did not enjoy being called a murderer. Voldo didn't know what was going on, and didn't seem to care as if he couldn't see. Cassandra and Xainghua got their first good look at him. He was bound at the eyes with some sort of tape and ho only had a bloody breathing sound for a voice. Then he went for it. Voldo jumped over the two women and ran out of the arena; all three close in pursuit.

They chased him down endless Roman alleyways with a smell of rancid feces and garbage that had been left by animals and other people. Voldo ran very awkwardly, but still very fast. Siegfried, whom was not used to so mush armor in a while, became fatigued quickly. No matter though, he pressed on. Xainghua know knew that buying that Qi Xing sword was a good idea. She flipped it out of her belt and threw it at Voldo's leg. In an attempt to evade her assault, he jumped into the air, but it lopped off his foot. He fell to the ground, but started to craw faster than any human could. The blood became a trail so even if they lost him, the trail would make sure they could still follow. Eventually after a long chase, he stopped and turned onto his back.

Now not having to run, the trio approached Voldo cautiously. Siegfried pierced the ground with his sword near Voldo's neck, "Alright bastard, tell me what Soul Edge promised you for helping him kill Kilik and Xainghua!"

No response came, only breathing.

"DAMN YOU! TELL ME!" he lowered the Requiem closer to his neck.

No response came, only breathing. He did however throw a scroll down the street and laughed bloodily.

"BASTARD!" Siegfried yelled as he raised the swords and beheaded the monster. His head flew a few feet and the jugular now severed, the blood attempting to get to his head spewed in all directions. It was revolting for his blood was black.

Cassandra almost vomited at the sight.

Xainghua did not flinch. Death was nothing new to her. She turned away, walked up to the scroll and picked it up off the ground. Unrolling it, she had to squint her eyes to make out the nearly illegible writing. It said:

_Hello, and to whom is ever reading this, congratulations. In addition to winning the last tournament _(the one before the horrid incident we just witnessed) _we are giving you a map to one of the most powerful weapons in the world. Here are the riddles to find them all._

_In a deep, cold place, I am here. The base is waiting for you where a lizard likes to rest. _(Obviously it was the hilt. No need for that one)

_I am here, in a controlled rainfall that lasts all year._ _You can find the steel tongue it when the sun shines when the sky is dark._

_For you I have given this place a special hiding place. In the sky I am held. Can you reach me?_

_Signed: Mayor Dobeday_

Quickly Xainghua brought the other two over to read it as well. Like the others, Xainghua did not know what it meant.

"He must be bringing it to Kilik," Xainghua said with a soft voice and looked at the ground where Voldo's blood was spilt. His death was not necessary.

"Damn riddles!" screamed a temper mental Siegfried. He punched a wall and cringed slightly as he found out a human hand is not as durable as a demonic one.

"Oh poor Siegfried!" said Cassandra caringly, "Can't get this one without using your big massive sword?"

"Keep your tongue in your mouth woman!"

"Well sorry! Just joshing a bit you know. Anyway, I've had a breakthrough in remembering our old friendship. You really used to like the mountains right?"

"I'm not sure," he said turning his head away.

"I'm certain you do!" she said placing her hand on his shoulder. She felt her warmth and it was something new, something comforting, "When it said hidden high in the sky, it can't just float there! It must be on a mountain!"

"Cassandra, you're a genius! But what mountain do we look for to finish number 3?" Xainghua inquired.

"That..." Cassandra tried to answer.

"She doesn't know..." Siegfried finished. The two looked at each other with stern looks on their faces. Cassandra in Siegfried's eyes, and his in Cassandra's. Cassandra couldn't keep it in any longer; she burst out laughing even amongst the dead corpse. Siegfried observed for amoment, then found himself chuckling.

"What is this feeling?" he asked Cassandra.

"That my friend, is laughter."

Xainghua suggested they tried near Norway. It was cold and had a good mountain range. They set off after Siegfried wiped the vile smelling blood off of his sword. Cassandra's thoughts, as well as Xainghua's went upon Kilik. A storm was brewing in the distance, a storm unseen by man.

Nightmare looked in his mind and heart. Did he?

Kilik sailed across the ocean for nearly a week now trying to get back to China. Still another 3 days away. He, even though being part demon felt the ailments of sea sickness. He went under for a sleep.

Kilik tossed and turned in his sleep. The Soul Edge was part of his mind, always conflicting with it at every chance it had.

"_Soon,"_ Soul Edge said to itself_, "I shall be much more than a weapon of destruction. Soon I shall have a body worthy of me to drive upon my own entire free will. Kilik shall fall. But his ex-allies and ex-enemy, they shall prove a bothersome bee-sting in an ass' side. Voldo is dead, and I guess his last reward given to him by the late Dobeday is of more use to them now that of him anyway. I see them going to Norway. I should follow, but I have a bigger prize to catch. The Sheng Lu Temple is now going to come out of dormancy with new warriors to destroy me. Pathetic of them, no? All soon tp be slaughtered and part of me. With each soul I get, the more of Kilik's mind I receive in return. I can't lose! But Soulcalibur is a problem, All we need id one piece. I think I'll have my associate The Raven take care of it. Fly my pet!"_ With that the cry came out of the distance.

Kilik's mind was set on Xainghua. He couldn't believe that he almost killed her more times than he wished, which was a few times too many. That night at the springs, he somehow felt that he saw her with different eyes. He never really thought about it before but, all the little body language and things they've done together, all the fights they've had and all the tears the shed. Was this really just a friendship?

A/N: Damn! I am so sorry for the delay. I needed a break (a few months to long me thinks.) Anyway, I hope this is a good, long (emphasis on long) chapter. Sorry about the Kilik part being so short. I'll try harder next time! R&R!

P.S: If you wanna talk to me on AIM my name is _kopacsija_.


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Norway was stepping ever closer as the troupe of warriors marched onwards. Siegfried, whom had no really interaction with anyone in the last 5 years, still keeps it that way. The women were talking about frivolous things not being the slightest of interest to him.

"How long has it been now?" Siegfried thought to himself, "one day seems like a week and as we search for a weapon strong enough to defeat Soul Edge, it may be too late for it to do anything at all. Soulcalibur will just draw us away from the person who we should be searching for. Look at them, not the slightest bit focused on what they are doing." He marched onward as a black sheet of stars crept over the sky. Soon the crackling of a fire filled the air.

The camp was dull and dreary, but this time, cold, very cold. The tent proved useless and no caves were anywhere near. Xainghua did not seem to mind, but Cassandra was chilled right through to the bone. Siegfried watched her pace around trying to keep warm. He was now clad in nothing but layers of clothing as his armor reduced his body heat. Back and forth Cassandra paced, rubbing her arms, hands and body to keep from catching a chill. She sat down beside Siegfried.

"You mind," she began, "if I lean on you for some heat?" Siegfried was a little surprised by her question. Why him and not Xainghua. She seemed to like her a lot more than him. Nonetheless however, he did let Cassandra lean on him.

"Siegfried, what do remember about us?" The fire crackled as he thought. Cassandra looked at him discovering that he was drawn into the dancing flames. She gazed into them as well, soon becoming mesmerized by them. Suddenly she felt a soft fabric touch her skin. Siegfried had drawn a blanket over the two of them. Once again she looked at him, but this time he looked back.

"How stern he looks," she thought to herself, "Must be focused on finding Kilik. Gosh. Our goal is to find Soulcalibur, but mine is to find Kilik."

Xainghua had been sitting on a log thinking about Kilik as well. "Cassandra," she spoke softly, "What are your plans after we destroy Soul Edge?" She kicked a stone into the fire.

"Simply, I don't know. I'm worried about Kilik, very worried. What if when we destroy Soul Edge, he dies? What if we never see him again? What if…"

"You love him don't you?" Xainghua said bluntly.

"I guess, why, do you?"

"I've actually never really thought about it, but maybe. No, the correct answer is yes, definitely yes. We have been friends for a long time, fought together, watch death together. If you can get through a war together, then I guess your bond is strong. And to you I ask the same. Why? What do you…"

"This is totally irrelevant," Siegfried interrupted breaking his silence, "What does it matter if he is destroyed? He is the host of Soul Edge. Once taken over, he should be slain. You do realize that if we do defeat IT that IT will come back and take over him or myself once more? This is why I'm going to kill him after to relieve him of this."

It started to snow. Few trees were left as they had crossed the Norwegian tree line hours ago. It was silent after Siegfried spoke.

"Heartless bastard!" Cassandra screamed, "How could you! Who dare you? Who gave you the right to play God?" She shoved herself away from him and turned away.

"Cassandra," Xainghua spoke, getting up and placing a hand on Cassandra's shoulder.

"What?"

"Kilik and I… We were betrothed since birth. We're going to be married."

Cassandra turned around, looked at Xainghua with wide, watery eyes and shook her head. Xainghua returned it with a nod. Cassandra broke out crying and ran off into the south headed toward the deeper part of the forest. Xainghua had her hand reached out to Cassandra, and then withdrew it to her chest.

"Pathetic. A woman so broken over a man she will never have." Siegfried spoke, his words cold and heartless, like Cassandra had said before.

"Damn you man, you are heartless," Xainghua walked off into the tent and lit a lamp, "Go console her. You of all people really need to work on people skills. Cassandra is right ya know. You can't keep relying on a massive blade of steel to do your talking for you."

Siegfried was disgusted, but deep down another new feeling has overcome him, guilt. Guilt for what he had just said, and gilt for what he knew he wanted and is still going to do. Kilik and he had a long standing rivalry. Even if Soul Edge was defeated he was correct. IT will come back. If not Kilik, them Soul Edge will still have one less person to possess. He got up and walked away with a _crunch, crunch, crunch_ as he stepped through the snow.

Cassandra ran through the woods, past trees, rocks and stumbling upon them as well. This was impossible! Kilik was already betrothed to Xainghua! It can't be like this. All her feelings for Kilik were just a veil of infatuation, blinding her true sight from what the truth was. She never really saw their body language as chemistry and love. She fell.

Still sobbing, she got up to her knees. No where to go. No one to go to. He hand fell upon her handle of her Dark Blade. Inspiration, a sad, sad inspiration came to mind as she drew her sword from its scabbard. He raised it above her head, bent her neck one way… and dropped her sword. She lay down, crying in the snow. She felt sleepy. Finally, she blacked out.

Siegfried tracked the distraught lady through the same path as she had led him. After about ten minutes of searching (she ran in circles). He found a body. Once more, a new feeling came upon him, concern. He looked at her, lying limp on the ground, ice cold and blue lips on her face. He picked her up, sat down and held her close to himself, rocking her gently. He couldn't believe it. Words, something that he had never really used for no one wanted him to use them, had killed someone he had known dear. A tear ran down his cheek. He was, after all human.

Cassandra moved in his arms. For a moment, all was blurry, but then clear. To her surprise, she was being cradled in the arms of a person she would have never have guessed. Siegfried was crying and rocking her gently in grief. She reached out her hand and placed it one his cheek. He stopped crying. He stood up and carried her back to camp.

"To answer your question, no, I don't but I want to. Can you help me?" He said to her.

She moved slightly and began to tell him her story, "We were only teenagers when we best remembered it. You a few years older than I, but not sure of how old. You were always trying to impress your father as you had told me, but to no avail. We were quite the duo you and I. You had no other friends. Everyone else saw you as, different. I didn't see you that way. We used to talk for hours about things that had no real importance. Do you remember the old willow tree in the field, standing there all alone?"

"Yes, I do," he said softly, walking closer to camp.

"I saw that tree as you, lonely, standing in a field, not where it belongs. I think that I was you sort of guide to take you to your destiny. Then all this stuff happened, like…"

Even at the camp, the two conversed for hours. Siegfried remembering a lot more with Cassandra around that all the time he had tried while alone.

"Cassandra," he said.

"What is it?" she asked, huddled in a blanket, very close to the fire.

"Thank you, old friend."

"I thought friendship wasn't won so easily?"

"That's true, but you're the first and only one to win it. Come here and sit with me."

So she did, once again huddled near the fire under the blanket, gazing at the fire.

"It looks almost…" Siegfried started.

"Enchanting," Cassandra finished.

Xainghua sat in the cold tent, looking at No Name and thought of Kilik. She sheathed it, placed it on the ground and peaked outside at the fire. She had heard talking and smiled at the sight.

"Well I'll be damned."

The next day, all three set off on their escapade once more. Siegfried, whom was once cold and imperceptible, was still that was, but with new emotions slowly emerging. Cassandra had told him all about their childhood the night before. Siegfried couldn't place his finger on it; which it was more that is: intriguing or a great memory he had suppressed. The snow fell softly and landed everywhere. Trees weren't a luxury anymore, the higher they got, the fewer trees there were, which meant more wind to bother them. The trio became winded at about three-quarters of the way there and had to stop. Siegfried became quite furious with himself.

"Damn! If I weren't human, I could scale this mountain in a minute," Siegfried cursed at himself. Cassandra placed her hand on his shoulder-plate.

"It's no one's fault. It's just that… you aren't use to human limitations. That's all it is and nothing more," she said sadly.

Xainghua sharpened her blade on a rock, as it had become quite dull over the past time. The sound of the blade scraping against the rock made a chilling noise that made them even colder. Once rested, they kept on scaling the perilous mountain. Cassandra looked down, and not being able to see the ground reminded her that she didn't like heights. She was so caught up in getting Soulcaliber that she didn't even shutter at the mountain. She froze on the ledge then let out a scream. Siegfried and Xainghua looked back, seeing Cassandra frightened and in trouble. The ledge she was gripping to was crumbling at the base. If she held on much longer, she would surely fall to her death. Siegfried, whom was already on a new pathway above the ledge, was struck with a memory.

It was a freak flashback to when they were playing near a creek; Cassandra was on a log trying to cross recklessly when she slipped. The rapids below rushed by. Their parent had warned them about going there, but the rumors of the most beautiful flowers in the meadow the followed them was too good for Cassandra to resists. Of course she brought little Siegfried along too. When he spotted his slipping friend, he rushed over, practically running across the log bridge with ease and grabbed her hand. He remembered the shouts of "Don't let me go! Don't let me go!" in his head. Then, he let her go. His hand had slipped and she fell into the rapids. After the incident, Cassandra was taken to a hospital, and Siegfried's whole family beat up on him.

"Why weren't you there!" he remembered his sister saying.

"You should have been the one to fall!" said Cassandra's father

"You are completely pathetic. You should never have been born!" his father had said.

"Not again…" Siegfried said to himself angrily. He drove his sword into the ground, jumped down the ledge and grabbed Cassandra's hand.

"Don't let me go!" she screamed.

"Not this time, no!" he replied valiantly. He pulled her up, and made her get onto his back. With the extra weight of the two of them, the ledge crumbled almost a moment after. Siegfried jumped back up, clinging to the ledge of the pathway he had just been on with both hands. He told Cassandra to climb up, and she did so hastily. Siegfried was about to help himself up, but Cassandra put out her hand.

"One for all, all for one, right?" Cassandra said. It was their old childhood pact. She helped him up to the ledge, both of them lay panting on the ground. Xainghua was never said much, but this left her absolutely baffled. She would never have expected this from Siegfried of all people.

Xainghua, Cassandra and Seigfried tagging along behind eventually made it to the top. A cave at the summit was the only thing left. Snow now blew hard and furious at the trio, obscuring their vision.

"Shall we go?" Xainghua asked.

"Agreed," both Cassandra and Siegfried said together. Both looked at each other and smiled, then laughed. Cassandra's was light and fluttery, while Seigfrieds was harty and jolly.

_Friends,_ Xainghua thought to herself, _I never would have expected this at all. When we fought Nightmare for the first time, he was ruthless, cold and black hearted, and he was the same the second time around. But this time…something is definitely different. He seems so much more human, but how can we be sure? He was after all, Nightmare. The only reason he isn't like that anymore is because of Kilik. Kilik…Taken back by Soul Edge and taken away from me. When will he be back? Are you aliright? Theses are only some of the thousands of questions I ponder on each day. I don't care if you're ITs puppet, for that is not you, really. Nightmare though, I guess isn't really Nightmare either. He's Siegfried. You can't judge a book by its cover. Nevertheless, I still fear so Cassandra's safety, for she is vulnerable to Soul Edge's demands now that she had befriended Siegfried. I hope she will be fine…_

The trio entered the cave…

Meanwhile, Kilik sailed to China, to the Sheng Lu Temple in search of Soul Edge's new dark acolytes…

A/N: This is really, REALLY bad! I'm trying, but it's been really long. I hope you like it. R&R! I'll try to be more consistent.


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